


'Cause what we've got going is good

by AchillesMonkey



Series: The Neurodiversity Series [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Asexual Character, Autism Spectrum, Autistic Fitz, Autistic Fitzsimmons, Autistic Simmons, F/M, FitzSimmons - Freeform, asexual fitz, pride prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-12 04:50:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11154591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AchillesMonkey/pseuds/AchillesMonkey
Summary: Jemma wants sex. Fitz doesn't. What does that mean?





	'Cause what we've got going is good

**Author's Note:**

  * For [theclaravoyant](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theclaravoyant/gifts).



> From a Tumblr Pride Prompt: I'd love something featuring Fitz exploring the ace spec and where he falls on it

Leopold Fitz would be forever grateful to his friend, Daisy Johnson, for introducing him to Jemma Simmons. Meeting Jemma was probably the best thing that had ever happened to him. She was brilliant, she laughed at his jokes, and she didn’t mind when he info-dumped about monkeys or needed to stim because she was autistic too, and would info-dump right back.

They’d been dating for nearly three months now, and it was going really well, at least from Fitz’s point of view. They spent nearly all of their free time together: studying, binge-watching Netflix, or researching their special interests. Daisy had jokingly begun to refer to them as FitzSimmons and said they were psychically linked.

Their first kiss had been on their one month anniversary date. Jemma had taken Fitz to the planetarium and spent the whole time info-dumping to him about astronomy and constellations, which he’d loved. It wasn’t a special interest of his like monkeys were, but he’d always found space and the stars fascinating, and he loved learning about it, especially from Jemma.

Since then, they’d made out a few times, but never anything more. Jemma was frustrated by this, he could tell, but she never pushed him to go further, and always stopped when he requested. Lately, though, she’d been dropping hints about getting more physically intimate. Fitz sometimes had trouble reading between the lines, but he had no trouble understanding what Jemma wanted.

The only issue was, well, Fitz had never really cared about physical intimacy or sex. He had never once looked at a person and thought that he’d like to have sex with them. He enjoyed the physical sensations that came with jerking off, but the mess afterwards was sticky and gross, and the pleasure he got during the activity wasn’t strong enough to get him to do it very often, or rather, not as often as he’d heard other guys talk about.

Fitz paced around his dorm room, flapping his hands anxiously as he thought. He’d never cared about his lack of sexual desire before; he’d never had a reason to care. But now he was dating the perfect woman, and she wanted to have sex with him, and he knew most guys would kill to be in his position, but Fitz had never been like most guys. He knew that most of the things that made him different were because he was autistic, but he didn’t think he could attribute this to autism. After all, Jemma was autistic, and she clearly had sexual desires.

Fitz retreated to his bed, burrowed under his weighted blanket, put one of his chewable fidgets in his mouth, and picked up his tablet. When in doubt, do some research. He typed ‘ _not wanting sex_ ’ into the search bar and hit enter.

Most of the hits on the first page were about women no longer wanting sex with their partners even though they had previously enjoyed sex. Fitz chewed harder on his fidget and went to the second page. The top article on the second page was titled _Asexuality: Some people just don’t want to have sex_. He clicked the link and skimmed through. The article itself wasn’t helpful, but at least it gave him something else to search for. He typed ‘ _asexuality_ ’ into the search bar and hit enter. The very first link was the Asexuality Visibility and Education Network. He clicked on [the link](http://www.asexuality.org) and began to explore.

 

~*~*~*~

 

A knock on the door and Jemma’s voice calling out “Fitz!” startled him from his research. His chewy fidget fell out of his mouth. He glanced at the time on his tablet and saw that it was evening, and Jemma had been finished with her biology lab for twenty minutes. “Fitz, are you there?” Jemma called out as the knocking continued. He got off his bed and went to open the door.

“Are you okay?” Jemma asked as soon as the door opened. “I’ve been knocking for ten minutes.”

“Sorry,” Fitz told her, moving aside to let her in. “I was hyperfocusing and I didn’t hear you.”

“Capuchins?” Jemma guessed with a smile.

Fitz shook his head and stuck his fidget back in his mouth. He picked up his tablet and then handed it to her, showing her the numerous tabs exploring the asexuality spectrum. He turned his back and went to stare out the window while she looked through it.

“Fitz?” Jemma questioned, and he didn’t turn around. “Do you—are you asexual?” she asked.

Fitz shrugged. There were two guys throwing a frisbee back and forth and he tracked the movement of the disc as he thought about how to respond. After a few minutes, he took the chewy fidget out of his mouth and said, “I’m not really interested in sex. I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Jemma asked.

Fitz turned around to face her, staring at his bed behind her. “Because you want sex, and I don’t. We’re not compatible.”

Jemma scoffed. “Fitz, that’s ridiculous. I don’t care if you don’t want sex. I—”

“Yes, you do!” Fitz interrupted her. “You’ve been making comments whenever there’s a sex scene on a show or in a movie.” He put on a high-pitch voice and did his best attempt at an English accent. “ _Oh, doesn’t that look fun, Fitz?_ ” He went back to his usual Scottish accent. “And when we’re kissing and I say stop, you always look disappointed. I hate that I’m disappointing you.”

Jemma opened her mouth and then closed it. Fitz noticed she was squeezing her hands into fists and handed her one of his stress balls to squeeze instead. He waited patiently as she figured out what she wanted to say.

Finally she put the stress ball aside and reached out to grab his hand. “I do like sex,” she began. “And I would like to have sex with you, Fitz, but not if you don’t want it too. That’s not how relationships work.”

Fitz wiggled his fingers and she let go of his hand so he could twist his fingers together. “I’m not completely opposed to the idea of sex,” he told her, “in theory.”

“Okay,” Jemma said.

“But, if I never want it, you’re okay with that?” he asked, just to make sure.

“Yes,” Jemma said immediately.

Fitz nodded. “Okay.”

“We could make a list,” Jemma suggested, “of things you’re comfortable with right now, and things you might want to explore in the future, and things you’ll never want to do.”

“I like cuddling,” Fitz told her as she pulled a notebook and pen out of her backpack. “I like holding hands. I like kissing, but the making out causes my body to react and that’s just confusing right now.”

“What else?” Jemma asked after she’d written what he’d said down.

Fitz shrugged. “Can I have some time to think about it?” he asked.

“Of course!” Jemma said, closing the notebook. She put it back in her backpack. “Want to go to dinner?”

“Yeah,” Fitz said. “I want cake.” He exchanged his chewy fidget necklace for his lanyard with his student ID and he and Jemma walked hand-in-hand to the dining hall. “Did you know that there’s a connection between asexual people and cake?” he asked as they walked.

“Really?” Jemma asked. “Tell me about it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, and for any kudos/comments! I'm taking Ace and/or Aro Pride Prompts on my [Tumblr](http://unlessimwrongwhichyouknowimnot.tumblr.com) so come send me an ask if there's anything you would like me to write!


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